HOPEWELL – Ray Disch, a Hopewell resident for the last 34 years, has done it all — including working for the United States Secretary of Labor and Merck as well as being a Realtor and founding and owning an energy company, home improvement company and brewery.

Disch’s latest endeavor – Sourland Mountain Spirits of Hopewell, one of the first New Jersey distilleries to be located on a farm since Prohibition – is expanding that resume and accomplishments. The distillery, which he incorporated in 2015 and made the first sale in March of 2017, already has products stocked on the shelves of 180 restaurants, bars and liquor stores.

Sourland Mountain Spirits isn’t just a commercial distillery. This craft distillery sources locally and organically, bringing in corn and rye from Zeng Family Farm in Ringoes. The company will soon start working on distilling apple brandy and apple jack using apple cider from Terhune Orchards as well, which will be ready at the end of this year.

“I like to say that the difference between craft and commercial is like the difference between homemade food and fast food,” Disch said. “We use the best ingredients we can find, we use the slowest process we can use to ensure quality and we have experienced and knowledgeable distillers who do this not only as a job but as a passion.”

Sourland Mountain Spirit’s location also allows it to draw from an aquifer at the base of the Sourland Mountain range. This means it is making the spirits using pure water filtered through micro-fractures in the geological formations of the mountains, protected by the largest contiguous forest in Central Jersey.

“These days, there is a tremendous want to support locally,” Disch said. “You can get everything local from pickles to booze, so our timing couldn’t be better.”

Those who are interested in checking out Sourland Mountain Spirits can do so by scheduling on its website or walking-in for Saturdays tours, which are conducted every hour on the hour from 12 to 4 p.m. The $5 cost includes a two-ounce shot glass, tastings of the distillery's four products and a tour, which is usually in attendance by five to 15 people at a time.

Currently, Sourland Mountain Spirits products can only be purchased at restaurants, bars and liquor stores (you can find out where they are sold near you by visiting sourlandspirits.com/where-to-buy), but in a few months, an addition will be built on the site that will include a shop where their merchandise, as well as gin, vodka, rum and barrel-aged gin, can be purchased.

Gin is the best-selling product made by Sourland Mountain Spirits, which won a silver medal last year from the American Distilling Institute. This year, the national association and guild with more than 800 craft distillery members nationwide, also awarded the Farm Distillery of The Year award to Sourland Mountain Spirits and recognized its rum with a silver award and its vodka and barrel-gun with bronze awards.

After Disch co-founded Triumph Brewing in 1995 and sold the brand to his partner in 1999, he wanted to get back in the sphere of spirits but at the time, distilling was not yet legal in New Jersey. However, after former Gov. Chris Christie legalized it in 2013, Disch saw his chance.

“There are 85 breweries and only 16 distilleries in New Jersey, and there were only nine when I started,” Disch said. “This was a great opportunity for me to be on the front end of spirits growth and expansion in the state.”